Tuesday, 31 December 2013

While blog-hopping a few years ago I found that some crafters had shown their Top Ten makes for the year and so, at the beginning of January each year, I've done the same, except I changed my choices to twelve, one for each month of the year and that's what I'm doing again this year.

Update: Catered crop are asking us to show our favourites from 2013, so this post is now being linked there:

If you click on the links, you can go to the original posts and read more about each item. The items shown aren't just my favourites, but are reminders of various techniques and things I enjoy doing. It was so difficult to choose just twelve, but here goes:

My top twelve of 2013

January 2013: Pink inspiration - I love tinkering around on the computer with pictures, so this was digitally created:

February 2013: Doily easel card - I love crafting with purple and lilac colours and I love making easel cards, hence this choice:

March 2013: Orange script - I've chosen this card to remind myself that I ought to use orange more often - a colour that I don't usually use very much. And I like the texture created by the script embossing folder as well as the simple layering of the flowers - the kind of card that is useful for any occasion:

April 2013: Congratulations - I love the simplicity of this card - it's suitable for a wedding, an anniversary, even a special one, such as a golden:

May 2013: Card for our anniversary - this has been chosen because it was for a special person on our anniversary, but I like the design too:

June 2013: Burgundy and ivory - this is a reminder to use some of the simple elements of the past that tend to get forgotten, like corrugated card. It makes a nice backdrop for the flowers with the simple striped brads and the stamp is a perfect one for saying just the right thing at a difficult time:

July 2013: Folded Christmas tree card - I belong to a Christmas card club where a group of us take it in turns to challenge everyone with a different theme every fortnight. Karen set us the challenge to make a card that included a tea bag/origami folded topper - something I didn't usually do, so it was a challenge indeed! I found this Youtube link and created this card. This is a reminder to use similar techniques again:

August 2013: the Sweet Pea stampers fantasy challenge- I was delighted to be asked to join the Sweet Pea stampers Design Team earlier in the year. This card was for their 'fantasy' challenge. I love it because of the colours, the textures and, of course, the lovely Jasmine mermaid digi by Elaine Cox:

September 2013: Vintage hat - I've chosen this card because I love the textures, the colours, the papers ... and the super image - this was a Design Team card for the Cheerful Stamp Pad:

November 2013: Just a note- I've chosen this card because I love the colour combo - and I used one of my favourite Penny Black stamps, 'sparklers'

December 2013: Snow- no review of the year would be complete without a Christmas card - regular visitors will know that I make a lot of Christmas cards and have two of my own challenge blogs CHNC challenge blog and CHNC challenge extra blog - and I'm also on Design Teams for other Christmas challenges, including the Glory of Christmas, where this card was shown. I've chosen it because I love the landscape design and also the use of dry and wet embossing with the lovely IndigoBlue stamp:

I have found it quite helpful doing this review of 2013 - it has brought back many memories, but has also reminded me of some techniques etc that I haven't tried for a while, not just in the items that I've chosen to show here, but in many other items that have been blogged over the months.

Hobbyhome and Everybody art 259 are asking us to share our favourite card of 2013 - so I think that would have to be the one I've shown for September.

It's over to you

Perhaps you would like to do your own 'top twelve of 2013' - if you do I'd love you to add to the linky at the bottom ,and perhaps leave me a comment, so that I can come and look at your choices.

It was John's birthday yesterday and I have to confess that I wish I'd made a card before Christmas - it always seems to be the way that the 'important' cards are left to the last minute. I suppose it's a bit like the decorator who goes everywhere else and doesn't get round to decorating the room at home that needs to be done.

Anyway, having had the Christmas break, I just didn't seem to get going with enthusiasm for cardmaking. This was partly because I have a big box to the left of me in which I dumped lots of various items before Christmas. The whole lot ... and my cupboards, drawers, boxes etc ... need sorting. The trouble is that if I'd waited until it's all sorted, John's birthday would have been here and ... no card. I've got stamps that I love using, gelli plates, masks/stencils ... but I couldn't get the enthusiasm to get going with them - perhaps this is because I left it so late to make the card.

For inspiration I looked through a box of Hunkydory and Kanban toppers and card and came across the items I used for this card. The thing with making cards year after year for loved ones is that in the end you run out of ideas. There's only so many variations of certain themes that can be represented.

So here it is. I folded a card that already had the wine bottles and glasses in the corner, adding the larger bottle and glass on the front, both of which have a holographic look with colours varyng according to the light. My own message was printed on to a different piece of Kanban card to put in the middle of the card with the little message at the bottom that says: 'Just like wine you improve with age'.

The little warning plaque at the top on the right hand says: 'The consumption of wine may cause you to think you can dance' - no danger of that!!

From the card I've made you'd probably wrongly think that we're both a boozy pair! Although we do enjoy the occasional glass of wine - John prefers white and I prefer red.